Latest news with #compression
Gizmodo
2 days ago
- Health
- Gizmodo
Nike and Hyperice's $900 ‘Recovery' Boot Lives Up to the Hype
If you're an athlete, then you remember all too well that the time between 2015 and 2020 was when recovery tools really took over. While hard to believe, there was, in fact, a time when a hard workout or a weekend long run didn't end with a session in Normatec Legs or a bout with a massage gun. But in 2025, athletes of all ranges, from pro to amateur level, and in nearly every sport, have made recovery a key component of their training. In line with this notion are the novel tech and tools that athletes now have access to. Think Normatec boots and Hyperice massage guns, yes, but also at-home portable cupping, red light therapy, TENS (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation) devices, and infrared sauna blankets, to name just a few. The latest in this lineup is the Hyperboot, an extremely high-tech pair of recovery boots that are priced at $899. The Hyperboot is somewhat of a mashup between an ultra-comfy and supportive recovery shoe—which many sportswear companies have released in the past several years—and a compression boot, but one specifically designed to provide recovery support to the foot and ankle. They're a collaboration between Nike, which is responsible for the bulk of the shoe design, including the mid and outer soles, and Hyperice, a company that makes high-end recovery tools for athletes. Hyperice x Nike Hyperboot Nike and Hyperice's Hyperboots will make your feet feel fresh and relaxed after working out, but $900 is steep for the specialized recovery shoes. Pros Remarkably relaxing Remarkably relaxing Easy setup Easy setup TSA-approved for carry-on Cons Bulky, weird-looking Bulky, weird-looking Very expensive What Do They Do and Why Do They Look So Weird? The Hyperboot is not discreet. They are big and bulky and look like they are meant to accompany an astronaut on a moonwalk. Though by now, most runners, casual and professional, are used to colossal-sized running shoes, these are larger still—and by a lot. The reason for the chunkiness, and the secret sauce of these recovery shoes, is that they have the same built-in air compression technology that you'll find in the Normatec boots (Hyperice bought Normatec in 2020). Better known as intermittent pneumatic compression (IPC) devices, they use a system of air pumps and chambers to inflate and deflate in a regularly repeating pattern. The idea behind this is that by expanding and collapsing in a systematic way, blood flow and the movement of lymphatic fluid increases, allowing for better circulation and removal of waste, and, theoretically, faster recovery—all while you are seated, resting and relaxing. In addition to this squeezing technology, the Hyperboot added one more feature: heat. While you are getting your feet and ankles squeezed, the device heats up. Because heat is known to relax muscles, adding it in with the compression technology should enable even more blood flow and fluid movement; also, heat just feels really nice. What Do the Boots Feel Like? Unfortunately, I don't hate them. I say unfortunately because truly, who actually wants to fall in love with a $900 recovery shoe? Unlike the Normatec boots or similar compression sleeves from other brands, the Hyperboot is meant to be both a recovery and warm-up device, meaning that to get the most benefits from them, the shoes should be worn both before and after a workout. Runners and other athletes often fall into three camps: they are warm-up stans, recovery devotees, or both. I fall into the oft-forgotten fourth category: I despise—and purposefully forget about—both. But for the sake of this review, I pretended I belonged firmly in the third category. During my two-week stint wearing the Hyperboot before and after every single run—I promise!—which ranged from easy three-to-five-mile runs, a couple faster interval workouts, and an 8-mile longer run on the weekend, I found myself looking forward to my workouts solely because that meant I got to spend some time in the boots. Having spent a decent amount of my free time in Normatec Legs during numerous marathon builds circa 2018 through 2022, I know the 'fresh legs' feeling these devices can create. It's an undeniably gloriously light, airy experience. The new Hyperboots did not disappoint on this front. And the addition of heat created this feeling of stepping into one of those foot baths with a massager, but without the added messy water setup and cleanup. The setup of the boots themselves was straightforward. The boots are charged via two USB-C cords that are plugged into a wall charger. The charge will last for about 1.5 hours (that is plenty of time in the boots; see below.) There are four buttons: an on/off button, a compression button, a heat button, and a start/stop button. Both the compression and heat buttons have three ranges of intensity. Once you've strapped in and turned the device on, the Hyperboots will compress to each foot. Pressing the start/stop button will begin the sequential compressions and heat. At first, I turned both settings—compression and heat strength—up to max. While the intense compressions were not bothersome (rather the opposite), the heat quickly became unbearable. The heat ranges in intensity from 111-degree Fahrenheit on the lowest level to 125-degree Fahrenheit on the highest level. Be warned: the highest level was so hot that I had to remove the shoes mid-session (though not so hot that I had to run them under cold water or I got a burn, don't worry). I've since learned that either I'm a wimp when it comes to heat or the boots are simply too hot. Either way, I was only able to tolerate the shoes on the lowest possible heat setting. Even with that setting though, the feeling of a hot water bath comes through just fine. I was surprised how much the shoes made my feet and ankles feel fresh, relaxed, and equally refreshed to begin a workout, as well as restored if I had just recovered from one. The main concept behind the boots, according to Hyperice and Nike, is that your ankles and feet are important but both forgotten and tricky areas to treat. Technically, the Normatec Legs do cover your feet and ankles, so if you already own a pair of them (and they are the exact same price as the Hyperboot right now), you might be wondering what more the Hyperboot can provide. Having tried both, I will say that the Hyperboot provides a more targeted compression of the ankle compared to the Normatec Legs, and once you've finished, you can really feel the difference. The Hyperboot made my ankles feel light, airy, and ready for my next workout. Just as significantly, the addition of heat was not insignificant. It made a notable difference—subjectively!—to how I felt after wearing them. Technically speaking, the shoes are designed so that you can stand, walk, sit, or travel all while getting the compression and heat benefits. On that note, the shoes are TSA-approved for carry-on, according to Hyperice. But also on that note, if I am being blunt, I had a lot of trouble forcing myself to leave my apartment in these shoes. Inside my apartment, I could wear them for hours all while cleaning, cooking, and doing other housework. The midsoles are extremely comfortable and the boots, in general, have a propeller-like feel similar to the feeling of wearing carbon plate racing shoes. However, I did feel like I got the most benefit from them just by sitting down, relaxing, and letting the compression and heat work. And, because I care deeply about my readers, I forced myself to wear them outside twice: once to get coffee and walk around my neighborhood and another time to a grocery store. Many people looked at my feet. Nobody asked questions. Do They Actually Help You Recover Faster? What Does the Science Say? It's undeniable that these shoes make your feet happy. But how does that translate into true recovery? And what evidence do we have to back that up? That's where things get trickier. The compression device technology was originally developed for bed-bound hospitalized patients to prevent blood clots. The periodic compressions mimic what would happen if someone were to, say, walk the length of a hospital wing, which is probably the same distance as one city block or less. Doctors knew that prolonged immobility increased the risk for blood to clot, so by mimicking movement, these boots would reduce the risk of these dangerous clots in a person who couldn't move. Later on, the founder of Normatec, a doctor named Laura Jacobs, further refined these devices to specifically help people dealing with postoperative lymphedema in breast cancer. Her device was then introduced to the athletic community as the Normatec Legs. If it can help blood flow and lymphatic drainage in immobile, hospitalized people, then it might help athletes, too. But there's a catch to this. The difference between an athlete—from elite to amateur—and an immobile patient in the hospital recovering from surgery is that an athlete can walk a city block. And unfortunately, there's still little evidence to suggest that these compression devices do anything more for recovery than a walk can provide. The Hyperboot is new, so there aren't independent studies on its effectiveness. However, since the Normatec Legs came out, there have been a number of studies looking into whether these devices help in recovery. A 2020 study published in the International Journal of Exercise Science followed 10 distance runners (five female and five male runners) and monitored how they felt after runs that ended in a session with compression boots (Normatec Legs or ones similar) and runs that didn't include a post-run session. The study concluded that 'there appear to be no substantial benefits of IPC in promoting recovery.' A 2024 meta-analysis, which pulls together a bulk of studies all on the same subjects and looks for overall trends, published in the journal Biology of Sport, looked at 17 studies, which included a total of 319 participants, and concluded that the boots provided 'a trivial to moderate effect' on pain and muscle soreness markers and 'a highly variable effect' on markers that look at muscle damage. The authors found that this technology 'might be a method with potential effects for recovery in sports, mainly reducing perceived soreness.' The problem is that, as Christie Aschwanden, author of Good to Go, about the science of athletic recovery, told Runner's World, it's really hard to measure what recovery is or means as 'there's no single physiological measure—not heart rate, body temperature, or hydration status—that will tell you whether or not you're recovered.' In fact, 'How do you feel?' is a common way to monitor recovery. In that vein, the Hyperboot did make me feel good. I felt better after wearing the boots than I did before putting them on. This was true every time I wore them. And I looked forward to wearing them, so much that they made me look forward to harder workouts that I otherwise was somewhat dreading. However, at $900, if I could get the same benefit that the Hyperboot provides by walking to and from the park where I run instead of starting my run as soon as I leave my apartment, I'd probably opt for that. Though it wouldn't be as relaxing or fun.
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Spain's Multiverse raises $217 million for compressing AI models
PARIS (Reuters) -Spanish AI firm Multiverse Computing said on Thursday it has raised 189 million euros ($217 million) from investment firm Bullhound Capital, HP Inc, Forgepoint Capital and Toshiba, to compress AI language models. The company said it has developed a compression technology capable of reducing the size of large language models (LLMs) by up to 95% without hurting performance and reducing costs by up to 80%. It combines ideas from quantum physics and machine learning in ways that mimic quantum systems but doesn't need a quantum computer. The latest funding round makes Multiverse the largest Spanish AI startup, joining the list of top European AI startups such as Mistral, Aleph Alpha, Synthesia, Poolside and Owkin. Multiverse has launched compressed versions of LLMs such as Meta's Llama, China's DeepSeek and France's Mistral, with additional models coming soon, the company said. "We are focused just on compressing the most used open-source LLMs, the ones that the companies are already using," Chief Executive Officer Enrique Lizaso Olmos said. "When you go to a corporation, most of them are using the Llama family of models." The tool is also available on Amazon Web Services AI marketplace. ($1 = 0.8709 euros) Fehler beim Abrufen der Daten Melden Sie sich an, um Ihr Portfolio aufzurufen. Fehler beim Abrufen der Daten Fehler beim Abrufen der Daten Fehler beim Abrufen der Daten Fehler beim Abrufen der Daten
Reuters
12-06-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Spain's Multiverse raises $217 million for compressing AI models
PARIS, June 12 (Reuters) - Spanish AI firm Multiverse Computing said on Thursday it has raised 189 million euros ($217 million) from investment firm Bullhound Capital, HP Inc (HPQ.N), opens new tab, Forgepoint Capital and Toshiba, to compress AI language models. The company said it has developed a compression technology capable of reducing the size of large language models (LLMs) by up to 95% without hurting performance and reducing costs by up to 80%. It combines ideas from quantum physics and machine learning in ways that mimic quantum systems but doesn't need a quantum computer. The latest funding round makes Multiverse the largest Spanish AI startup, joining the list of top European AI startups such as Mistral, Aleph Alpha, Synthesia, Poolside and Owkin. Multiverse has launched compressed versions of LLMs such as Meta's (META.O), opens new tab Llama, China's DeepSeek and France's Mistral, with additional models coming soon, the company said. "We are focused just on compressing the most used open-source LLMs, the ones that the companies are already using," Chief Executive Officer Enrique Lizaso Olmos said. "When you go to a corporation, most of them are using the Llama family of models." The tool is also available on Amazon (AMZN.O), opens new tab Web Services AI marketplace. ($1 = 0.8709 euros)
Digital Trends
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Digital Trends
How to experience lossless audio
There's been a lot of talk lately about lossless audio, and that might have led you think that you need special equipment or an expensive streaming music service to get it. But that couldn't be further from the truth. In fact, you probably already own everything you need to hear lossless audio. So let's take a quick look at what lossless audio is, and maybe more importantly, what it isn't, and how you can listen to it. Recommended Videos What is lossless audio? Simply put, lossless audio is any type of digital audio that hasn't been processed using a lossy, destructive form of compression. Lossless doesn't necessarily mean hi-res audio (though most hi-res is often lossless), and it doesn't even mean CD quality (though the term CD quality is used, it implies audio that is lossless). And lossless isn't a special format that belongs to any company or streaming service. Any streaming service that chooses to offer lossless audio can do so (we'll talk about why some services don't offer it, later). Why does lossless audio matter? When audio is recorded and turned into huge collections of zeroes and ones in a studio, engineers use uncompressed forms of digitization. This means that every detail of the audio is captured digitally, at the highest resolution possible. This creates a near-perfect digital recording. Unfortunately, uncompressed digital audio is massive in file size, so it's always compressed before it gets turned into a file that's ready for distribution. There are two kinds of compression. Lossy compression can make audio files truly tiny — up to a tenth of their original size. But to do that, it discards some of the original information. The best versions of lossy compression discard info in a way that most people wouldn't notice. You'd never listen to good lossy compression and say 'this sounds bad.' Lossless compression, on the other hand, makes a smaller audio file without discarding any of the information needed to recreate the recording on your listening equipment. I won't get into the math behind it, but it works. However, there's still no such thing as a free lunch: Lossless files are smaller than uncompressed audio, but still much bigger than lossy — often four times as large. For those who want to know they're getting the best possible listening experience, lossless is worth that tradeoff in file size. How can I tell the difference between lossless and lossy audio? The hope is that you'll be able to tell the difference simply by listening to both, but realistically that may not be possible — especially if you're listening in a noisy environment. The easiest way to tell is look at the audio file on your computer. If the filename ends in .mp3, .aac, or .ogg, it's a lossy file. If it ends in .alac, .aiff, .wav, .flac, or several other extensions, it's lossless. Since most folks listen to streaming music these days, you need to rely on some knowledge about the formats each service uses plus the display in your streaming app's now playing screen. Apple Music, for instance, will show you an indicator when it streams in lossless, hi-res lossless, or Dolby Atmos. If you change the settings to reduce the amount of data it uses, these indicators won't show up, which means you're getting lossy compression. Each music service has its own version of these labels and the ability to control the maximum quality used when streaming. However, not all services offer lossless. Spotify, for example, has so far resisted the lossless trend. Even with a premium subscription, Spotify only streams music using lossy formats. How do get lossless audio? The first step to hearing lossless audio is making sure you have a source of lossless content: A streaming service that offers lossless audio A CD, SACD, or DVD-Audio disc and a working player Blu-ray or UHD Blu-ray with audio recorded in Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD Master Audio Digital music files saved to your computer, phone, or portable music player, in one of the lossless formats mentioned above The next step is to make sure you have a way to play that lossless content. Streaming service apps like Apple Music, Tidal, Amazon Music, and Qobuz all have built-in decoders that can transform lossless streams into something that can played on your phone or computer. For disc-based music, the CD or Blu-ray player performs the same task. For lossless music stored locally (perhaps ripped from a CD or purchased from a download site), you'll need software that can decode and play it. There are many free apps that do this, regardless if you're on a Mac, PC, iPhone, or Android. Finally, you'll need to make sure that you aren't inadvertently introducing lossy compression because of your choice of headphones, speakers, or earbuds. As convenient as wireless listening is, even the most expensive Bluetooth headphones, earbuds, or speakers use some form of lossy compression when they receive that wireless stream from your phone or computer. There are some rare exceptions, like Qualcomm's aptX Lossless codec, but even then, it can be hard to guarantee that the connection is truly lossless. To ensure your lossless audio stays lossless, you'll need: A wired connection between your disc player, amplifier, and speakers Wireless speakers that use Wi-Fi and receive a direct stream from a platform like Sonos or Tidal Connect, Qobuz Connect, or Alexa Cast, but not Apple AirPlay 2 A computer or smartphone with a built-in headphone jack or, An external digital-to-analog converter (DAC), plus: wired headphones or earbuds Headphones that support USB Audio via USB-C You probably already have what you need If you already own wired headphones or earbuds, plug them into your laptop or amplifier/receiver and you're good to go. Even if you don't have dedicated wired devices, most wireless headphone also come with a cable you can use for analog wired listening. Because most smartphones don't have headphone jacks anymore, you'll need to buy an external DAC if you want to use your wired headphones or earbuds. The good news is that as long as you aren't fussy about getting audiophile-level hi-res audio compatibility, even something as inexpensive as Apple's lightning- or USB-C-to-3.5mm adapter (typically $9-$11) will do the trick. Gotchas to avoid Here are a few things that can get in the way of lossless listening and should be avoided. Apple AirPlay2: As noted above, your wireless speaker or soundbar may use Wi-Fi, and it may offer the ease and convenience of Apple's AirPlay 2 for wireless streaming, but AirPlay 2 is not lossless audio compatible. It downconverts any audio to 256kbps AAC before sending it to the target speaker. As I said earlier, no one will hear 256kbps AAC and say 'this sounds bad,' but it's not the same as say, 1,411kbps FLAC. Transcoded files: It may be tempting to simply run a lossy MP3 file through a converter and turn it into a lossless format like FLAC or WAV, but unfortunately, that doesn't result in a lossless audio file. All you've done is created a much larger file that still contains no more information than it had when it was an MP3. There are ways to make lossy files sound better — Sony has an algorithm that called DSEE that can 'restore' some of the quality that lossy compression loses, but it can't magically put back the info that was discarded when the MP3 was created. Dolby Atmos Music: This one seems really unfair. We've been led to believe that Dolby Atmos Music represents an entirely new way to enjoy music — one that is more immersive and cinematic. And though that's true, here's another truth: if you're listening to Dolby Atmos Music via the three music services that currently support it (Apple Music, Tidal, and Amazon Music), you're listening to lossy audio. The reason is similar to Spotify's reason for avoiding lossless stereo so far: lossless Dolby Atmos requires huge file sizes. Bigger files mean more bandwidth requirements and that adds up to higher streaming costs for the services. So instead of using the lossless Dolby TrueHD format to transport Dolby Atmos, these services use the lossy Dolby Digital Plus. Again, just like no one is going to complain that Apple's 256kbps AAC sounds bad, you're unlikely to mind how lossy Dolby Atmos Music sounds. But if you ever get a chance to hear lossless Dolby Atmos, I suspect you'll agree it sounds better. You can get lossless Dolby Atmos Music as a digital download, or by buying music on Blu-ray (make sure it specifically says it has Atmos in TrueHD).
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Scientists just made guinea pigs listen to Adele for seven days… and the results are both surprising and worrying
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. If you're a music maker then you can't fail to have grasped the concept of compression and, more than likely, thanked your lucky stars that it was there to help. Whether it's evening out your iffy performance or making bad drums and thin bass sound insanely great, compression is a simple but magic trick of the volume level that can put any music in your face and number one in your affections. If it's too quiet a compressor makes it louder. Now everything is at the same level. But, just like amping up food with artificial flavourings or taking political opinion to extremes, it's possible to have too much of a 'good' thing. While the arguments both for and against compression are well known (remember the 'loudness war' that saw remastered classic albums coming back 'brickwalled' with all of their subtle dynamics disappeared?) it's now been medically proven that compression equals bad… While 'playing music loud is going to damage your ears' is common sense, surely the amount of compression employed on a track doesn't make a difference? Not so. Now, new research with guinea pigs has shown that compression may not be your best friend after all and that compressed music damages ears in ways that uncompressed, more dynamic music does not. The experiment's findings suggest that having silence between sounds – giving the brain a chance to process 'what just happened' and appreciate the surprising peaks to come – gives the listener's brain sufficient headroom to recover from their last surprise allowing them to listen and understand and enjoy music for longer. It's a known fact that listening for too long (and perhaps at two high a level) produces a fatigue that is the scourge of musicians and studio staff worldwide. In short, compressed audio is more tiring to listen to and – thanks to some new research – may just be officially bad for you too. And the guinea pigs in this new experiment?… Were actual guinea pigs… And what unpleasantries were they subjected to in the pursuit of science? Adele's 2015 single I Miss You. Obviously The guinea pigs were split into two groups. One group listened to the Adele favourite in unmolested form while the others were endlessly fed a compressed version, with both groups listening to the track at the same perceived volume level of 102 decibels. And it that sounds like a lot, it's because it is. It's actually just below Britain's Health and Safety Executive's recommended maximum average for live music. Needless to say, tests of the various guinea pig's cochlea's post Adele trauma revealed damage to their inner ear, leading to mild temporary impairment which would, in time, produce permanent damage. No surprises thus far. However the group listening to the compressed version had endured more lasting damage to the middle ear's stapedius muscle. This component of every ear (humans too) protects the inner ear from loud noises and, at just 1mm long, is actually the smallest skeletal muscle in the body. This, despite the music – uncompressed and a compressed version – being played at the exact same volume. In the tests, the hearing of those animals who had listened to the uncompressed Adele made a full recovery within a day, with their hearing and performance of the stapedius muscle returning to normal. The test was repeated for seven days with no discernible lasting effects. However, those who had encountered the compressed Adele did not get off so lightly, with their stapedius reflexes never fully recovering and exhibiting half of their strength at the end of the experiment a week later. Thus Paul Avan, an audiologist at the Pasteur Institute in Paris who wrote up his results in the journal Hearing Research, has concluded that the constant stimulus of compressed music overwhelms the nerve cells in auditory processing, affecting their ability to bounce back and recover. While there's still much to unpack – how much compression is 'bad', can a full recovery be made through an extended rest period, and so on – the results are nonetheless conclusive and surprising, suggesting that not only volume level but the relentless dynamics of what we're actually listening may have serious later repercussions on our hearing. You heard it here first.
